IDF soldiers during a military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Photo: REUTERS
Brigadier General Hisham Ibrahim said that Israeli ground forces are close to successfully completing their combat mission in the northern Gaza Strip. However, under his command, the armored corps continues its operations in the enclave, receiving support from the Israeli Navy and Air Force. According to The Guardian, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have also moved into active combat operations in the southern part of Gaza, with fighting taking place with the same intensity as before the truce ended the other day.
The Israeli army attacked about 200 Hamas targets in Gaza and killed the movement’s battalion commander, Haitham Huwajari, who led the October 7 raids. The buildings of the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court, which were considered one of the symbols of the Hamas government in the enclave, were also blown up.
– The objectives in the northern section have almost been achieved. “We are beginning to expand ground maneuvers in other parts of the strip with the sole objective of destroying Hamas,” confirmed General Ibrahim.
At the same time, the IDF asked residents of southern Gaza to evacuate to and around the city of Rafah, near the border with Egypt. According to the Israeli military, it is best to do so along the Mediterranean coast, as the previously safe corridor in the center of the enclave has become a combat zone.
Palestinians queue for water at a volunteer station in southern Gaza.
Photo: REUTERS
Additionally, Israel’s National Security Council has increased the threat level for its citizens when visiting foreign countries. Thus, for Western Europe, South America, Australia and Russia, the level was raised to level two with the recommendation to exercise extreme caution. And for countries in Africa and Central Asia, the threat level was raised to three with the recommendation to reconsider plans if traveling to these countries for non-essential reasons.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan harshly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, threatening that the 74-year-old politician could repeat the fate of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic.
“We will not allow the problem of nuclear weapons, the existence of which Israel has recognized, to be forgotten. Netanyahu will be tried not only as a war criminal, but also as a “butcher of Gaza,” like Milosevic, Erdogan said.
In response, Tel Aviv only reaffirmed the Jewish State’s continued intention to eliminate all leaders of the Palestinian Hamas movement, wherever they may be.
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